The Small Request
by tasty-kate
Summary: Amy only asks for the simple things but the Doctor never gets it right. Until now.  Winner of the LiveJournal community big jumps challenge #6!


"Doctor, how come you don't take me to beautiful places anymore?"

The Doctor snapped his head up from where he was working under the TARDIS console. "How do you mean? Sionnessike was gorgeous!"

Amy gave him a skeptical look from her spot on the booster seat.

"What?" he asked sincerely.

"You call a planet made of mud and grey concrete with grotesque aliens 'beautiful'?"

"Don't you?"

Amy sighed. "Okay, I need something a little more… _conventionally_ beautiful."

"Like weeping willows, colorful birds, flowers that don't eat you? That sort?"

Her eyes glimmered at the mere thought and she made a squeaking sound. "There are planets like that?" she asked excitedly.

"Yeah. Earth."

She snorted in response. "How about something exotically, alien-y beautiful? That has lots of colors and nothing trying to kill us or eat us?"

The Doctor looked thoughtful.

"And comfortable temperatures," Amy added.

He concentrated even more. He started again on his tinkering but she could tell by his silence and creased face that he was thinking hard. She decided to not disrupt his thought process and started to daydream about where the next stop might be. Knowing the Doctor, he would get this whole idea completely wrong and take them somewhere _he_ thought was just perfectly beautiful when, in fact, you had to be an expert in modern art to appreciate anything. He had done that every single time. Amy would make a request and his destination would be completely off the mark.

After a few long moments, the Doctor jumped up from where he was kneeling. "I have the perfect planet in mind."

Amy was half torn between hopeful and skeptical. "Oh, yeah? Tell me about it."

"No, no, no, must be seen to be believed," he responded with a playful grin on his face.

He punched in a few letters on the type writer, twisted a few knobs, spun a top, and slammed down the lever. Flying in the TARDIS never got old for Amy.

"Are we there?" she asked.

He made a small nod to the door. "See for yourself."

Amy raised herself from the booster seat and slowly walked down the steps to the front of the door. Before pushing open one side, she glanced back at the Doctor. He was still on top of the upper level, hands behind his back. He rocked back and forth on his heels, clearly amused. He jumped down the steps and joined her at the door.

"Ready?" he said in a low voice from behind her.

She suppressed a shiver of delight. This build up was really starting to get to her. She pushed open the door.

Amy's mouth dropped slightly open. Her eyes widened as she stared out at the world in front of her. A warm breeze tickled over her from where she stood, still inside the TARDIS.

"This is Gyrain, from the Masalene quadrant of the Pxiou galaxy. There won't be intelligent beings on this planet for another hundred years. This is the planet at its peak before the Chevaryn crash land on here and strips the planet from all its resources."

Beyond the TARDIS doors were miles upon miles of purple and pink grass that went up to Amy's knees. The trees were gangly and twisted with soft orange foliage. The branches dipped so low that some even touched the ground. Flying birds (if that's what you could call them) dove up and down in the deep purple sky. Flowers so exotic that Amy didn't believe even the Amazon could compare, grew in bunches underneath of the low-lying trees. She saw some mammals off in the distance but couldn't quite tell what they were or might resemble. The sun was slowly lowering in the sky, casting a beautiful red/orange glow over the whole land; the Doctor landed them at sunset.

Amy whipped her head around to look at the Doctor. He had been watching her reaction the whole time. Her mouth tugged at the corners into a smile and she whispered, "Thank you."

He broke out into a grin and answered, "Well then. Brand new planet for you, ready to explore—are we just going to stand here all day?"

She giggled and put her right bare foot out into the soft grass. She closed her eyes and savored the moment of stepping onto a new planet.

"What's the matter?" the Doctor asked.

"I love that first step," she answered, walking away from the TARDIS.

"What about the second step?"

"Ah, not as much," she said with a glint in her eye. He laughed and followed his red-headed companion out onto Gyrain.

She slowly walked around in a circle, absorbing the whole planet. She tried her best to imprint this memory in her mind. Amy Pond never wanted to forget anything.

As she skimmed her fingers over the tips of the blades of grass, the Doctor called for her. He seemed to be standing at the drop off at a hill. She took long strides over to meet him to see what he wanted her to show her.

At the drop off of the cliff was a forest of the twisted trees, flowers upon flowers- all an invitation for Amy. She felt herself break out into another smile. She looked up at the Doctor's face. "It's like you know me or something." He gave a modest shrug in response. "Can we go down there?"

"Absolutely," he said.

He grabbed her hand and started to run down the steep hill. There were moments where Amy was afraid she would topple over and roll down the rest of the way. But even if she did, that would be fun, too. The air raced around Amy as she gained momentum. Her flaming hair billowed out from behind her and the grass whipped at her legs. Never once did she step on a rock. The Doctor held tightly onto her hand and was tugged her to keep up.

They were out of breath by the time they made it to the bottom. The grass wasn't as long in this part, only up to her shins. She tugged on his hand and he followed her to the ground. The grass was cool underneath of the trees and after the run, it felt great. Amy looked up through the trees at the purple sky, streaked with orange and red. It was getting darker but it was still beautiful. The sun streamed through the branches and landed like spot lights all around them.

Amy felt the Doctor move and slide his arm around her. Amy smiled and snuggled up close to him, her body turned towards his. The moment couldn't be even more perfect. Then she heard it: his two hearts, beating inside his chest. She knew he had two hearts, knew it as fact, but never really realized it. The craziness of everything came down on her. She was on an alien planet with an alien… man-like-person-like-thing, wearing no shoes, thousands of light years away from home. She started to laugh.

The Doctor looked fondly down at her and hummed, "Hmm?"

"Two hearts," she said with a nudge to his breast bone.

He nudged at her breast bone and said, "One heart."

Amy looked up at him for his bold move. All the laughter had gone away and now her face was blank, nearly unreadable. They stayed like that for a moment, looking into each other's eyes, waiting for the other to make the first move. Amy swore his head moved a fraction of a centimeter forward. She tilted her chin up until she was level with his eyes as if she was going to kiss him. Then, she slowly turned on her back so she was facing up at the sky again. Her lips never touched his.

The Doctor let out a hearty laugh and she followed, laughing until they could barely catch their breath. They laughed at the ridiculousness of that moment. They laughed at each other. They laughed at themselves.

No possible way it could ever work.

He made a move as if to get up but Amy tugged on his arm to keep him settled.

"Just a bit longer," she pleaded, looking up at him with her hazel eyes.

He gave her a small smile and settled back down. They watched the sun set through trees and watched the stars make their grand appearance. After the whole world around them turned dark, they silently got up and made their careful way back to the TARDIS.


End file.
